English Words with Hebrew Origins

These common English words have their origins in Hebrew and Jewish thought.

You might know more Hebrew than you think. Check out these surprising Hebrew and Jewish origins of common English words. You might never think about these common terms the same again.

Ruthless – In the Torah, Ruth was the epitome of kindness and giving: a Moabite princess, she gave up her wealth and position to take care of her mother-in-law Naomi. Ruth was eventually rewarded for her great kindness by becoming the spiritual mother of the Jewish people, the great-grandmother of King David. To be “Ruth”–less is to lack the kindness and compassion that characterized Ruth; in modern English it denotes being venal and selfish.

Copacetic – this English word means that everything’s in order, that all is as it should be. It’s similar to (and some think derived from) the common Hebrew phrase kol beseder: everything’s okay.

Leviathan – This English word meaning a great sea creature is directly taken from the Hebrew word for whale: leviaton.

Abracadabra – Acknowledging that God is the sole Creator of the world is a central value in Judaism. Thus, it’s forbidden to declare that we, ourselves, are responsible for creation. Or to put it another way, in Aramaic, the language of the Talmud, it’s forbidden to say A’bra (I will create) K’dabra (As I speak).

Cabal – Denoting a secretive group of people, usually intent on an evil purpose, the English word cabal is anti-Semitic in origin: it’s taken from the word Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism, and was applied to Jews studying holy texts.

Camel – Gamal in Hebrew, it’s also close to the name of the third letter in the Hebrew language (gimmel), which some people say a gamal, or camel, resembles.

Beezelbub – It’s not only a scary character from horror movies. The term comes from the Hebrew words baal, meaningLord, and zeevuvim, meaning flies. “Lord of the Flies” is a pagan image, denoting someone at home amongst death, which attracts flies.

Sapphire – In the Torah, God’s throne is described as a sapphire, blue like the very heavens: a sapphire is sappir in Hebrew.

Big Kahuna - It’s not just frat-boy slang. Kahuna refers to the holiness of the Cohanim: Aaron and his descendents who officiated in the ancient Temple in Jerusalem.

Edenic – Referring to Eden, the perfect garden in which God created Adam and Chava (Eve), the first human beings, edenic means something perfect and enjoyable in English today.

Babble – The Torah recounts how the generation after Noah tried to build a tower high enough to reach the very heavens and challenge God. Instead, God toppled this Tower of Babel, and punished its builders by multiplying their languages so they could no longer understand each other. The English word babble – meaning nonsensical sounds – commemorates this famous Biblical story.

Jeremiad – This English word, meaning a long lamentation or tale of woe – comes from the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah, who lived through the siege and fall of Jerusalem and the enslavement of the Jews in conquering Babylonia, and consoled his fellow Jews with visions of a future in which they would restored to the land of Israel.

Brouhaha – This word, meaning a noisy or overexcited reaction or response to something, was borrowed by English speakers from the French in the 19th Century. It’s thought to derive from the common Hebrew welcome Baruch Ha-ba, or Blessed is He (or she) who comes. To those who didn’t understand Hebrew, it’s likely that Baruch Ha-ba sounded like a noisy confusion of sound – a term that was extended to any such uproarious speech. http://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/2011/07/02/

Maven – This Yiddish word has passed over into common English usage. Meaning a wise person who knows a lot, it derives from the Hebrew word mavin, or understand.

Abacus – A manual computing device consisting of a frame holding parallel rods strung with movable counters, the word abacus originally referred to a drawing board that was covered with dust. (People did sums in the dust, wiping it clean when they were finished.) Abacus thus comes from the Hebrew word Avak, meaning dust.

Macabre – Suggesting the horror of death and decay, the word macabre entered Hebrew from the French. It’s thought to derive from the Hebrew phrase “from the grave”, or me-ha-kever.

Hallujah - used to express praise or joy, this comes from the Hebrew words Hallel meaning praise and Ya, denoting God.

Scapegoat – in ancient times, on Yom Kippur, two goats were selected to help atone for the people of Israel. One was sacrificed to God; the other – the scapegoat – was symbolically loaded with the people’s sins and sent into the wilderness. In modern English, a scapegoat is someone who takes the blame for what others have done.

Behemoth – This English word meaning a huge animal comes from the Biblical Book of Job (40:15), where it’s described as a large, grass-eating animal. In modern Hebrew, behemoth means domesticated animal, like a cow.

Seraph – In Hebrew, the Seraphim (the singular is Seraph) are angels who exist to sing the praises of God. A famous Jewish Midrash (story) explains that when God created humans, the Seraphim cried out: “We love and worship you perfectly! Why did you have to create these messy human creatures? Aren’t we good enough for you?” To which God replied that people, having free choice, are capable of bestowing an even greater love to God than the perfect Seraphim.

Cherub – Cute, curly-haired children in English, Cherubs are another kind of angel in Judaism. Fierce and mighty, Cherubim are angels that enforce God’s will with fiery swords: the word comes from cherev, the Hebrew word for sword.

Jubilee – Meaning a special anniversary, this word comes from the Hebrew Yovel. In ancient Israel, the Yovel year occurred once every fifty years: it was a time for debts to be forgiven and for indentured servants to go free.

Shibboleth – Meaning a password or a phrase that’s distinctive to a group, this English word comes directly from the Hebrew. In ancient times, the nation of Gilad attacked the Tribe of Ephraim, and came up with a unique way to identify who was a member of that tribe or not: they asked each man they came across to pronounce shibboleth, meaning a stalk of grain: the members of the Tribe of Ephraim had an accent that betrayed them when they said the word. In modern Hebrew, a shibboleth is an ear of corn; a shibboleth shu’al means oat.

Sabbatical – The concept of taking a year off for personal research or work comes from the Jewish idea of Shabbat, when Jews rest and cease from their weekday work.

Sabbath – Likewise, the weekly Sabbath is the English version of the Hebrew Shabbat.

Amen – This common ending to prayers comes from the Hebrew word emunah, or belief; it’s in effect a way of saying “I believe what was said is true.”

* * *

Correction:

I'm grateful to all the readers who have written in with comments and criticisms. A few words on this list have origins that are different or more obscure than I stated.

It looks like I made a mistake with macabre, which is derived from Hebrew, but in a different way: in the Middle Ages, the Latin Chorea Maccabaeorum, Dance of the Maccabees, was a traditional feature of morality plays, probably representing the slaughter of the Maccabbees (from the period of Chanukah). This was translated into French as Danse Macabe, which evolved into Dance Macabre, the "Dance of Death".

Ruthless, which many pointed out derives from the old English word for pity, has nonetheless been linked to the Jewish idea of Ruth as the epitome of compassion and pity by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, in his book To Heal a Fractured World. "Kahuna", which refers to the holiness of the Cohanim who officiated in the ancient Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, has a similar meaning in Hawaiian, in which it refers to a doctor or sorcerer. Other words on this list have origins that are obscure: as I pointed out, some linguists think copacetic derived from Hebrew, but are not certain. Abracadabra is another word whose origins are obscure: many think it derives from Aramaic, others point to Greek origins.

Related Articles:

About the Author

Yvette Alt Miller earned her B.A. at Harvard University. She completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Jewish Studies at Oxford University, and has a Ph.D. In International Relations from the London School of Economics. She lives with her family in Chicago, and has lectured internationally on Jewish topics. Her book Angels at the table: a Practical Guide to Celebrating Shabbat takes readers through the rituals of Shabbat and more, explaining the full beautiful spectrum of Jewish traditions with warmth and humor. It has been praised as "life-changing", a modern classic, and used in classes and discussion groups around the world.

I find your articles very interesting and helpful.Looking forward to more!Shana Tova, hatima tova, with best wishes,helen p

(26)
Elliot Greene,
September 4, 2014 12:07 AM

Corrections to English Words from Hebrew

There are still several mistakes here. I am just going to point out two: 1. Etymologists list NO connection between Babble and Babel. For sure, the Hebrew "l'bavel" to confuse is related to the tower. The English word "babble" is onomatopoeic, driving from a baby's enunciations.2. First of all the phrase is "HaKol Beseder" everything's in order. The word "copacetic" has been traced to jazz musicians in the late 19th Century, possibly earlier. Hebrew wasn't spoken then. Ben Yehuda compiled the Hebrew lexicon in the early 20th Century, long after the phase was in use. My guess is that Ben Yehuda, being French, simply translated the French phrase "d'accord". There is no connection between these words.

(25)
Shimon,
July 16, 2014 1:35 PM

cherub (כרוב) /= cherev (חרב)

The root of cherub uses a kaf, sword is het. These might be pronounced the same by many Ashkenazi Jews (myself included), but they are VERY different letters, and unless you have some big guns in etymology backing you up, I would consider this a farfetched impossibility.

(24)
Anonymous,
July 10, 2014 9:52 PM

More words

.My father, A"H used to like to come up with words like these.

antique from atik (an Ayin really has an n sound at the end of it, hence the N in antique)Seven from sheva (think sheven)Tzad from sidedirect from derechtour from toursofa from sappah

(23)
Anonymous,
July 9, 2014 11:19 PM

tiara=ataraI think this is a powerful one:Love="Ha'paam yiLoveh ishi ailay", declared by Leah after Levi was born, which translates as, "now my husband will accompany me."

Malki,
July 10, 2014 1:50 PM

Love derived from LEV - heart

I think this is more obvious

(22)
Dovid Rosman,
July 9, 2014 6:36 AM

Some more

1) Organization is related to the Hebrew word ariga, which means to weave together different parts.2) Genius is related to the word Gaon3) Trap is related to the word Taraf4) Idea is related to the word Yedia5) Mask is related to the word Maseicha6) Fall is related to the word Nafal7) Evil is related to the word Aval8) Eye is related to the word Ayin9) Annoy is related to the word Inuy10) Antique is related to the word Atik11) Part is related to the word Pared12) Sorrow is related to the word Tzara13) Call is related to the word Kol14) Rush is related to the word Ratz15) Skill is related to the word Seichel16) Sir is related to the word Sar17) Tour is related to the word Toor (to spy out)18) Fruit is related to the word Peirot19) Love is related to the word Lev

(21)
Tsahala,
July 8, 2014 3:26 PM

The word LOVE is also derived

from the word LEV (heart) in hebrew

(20)
Joyce Solomon,
July 8, 2014 3:43 AM

The Word, by Isaac E. Mozeson, for more on this subject

May I direct everyone to a wonderful volume I own--The Word: The Dictionary that Reveals the Hebrew Sources of English, by Isaac E. Mozeson, c. 1989 & 1995, Jason Aronson Inc. As a linguist by training, I am fascinated by his comprehensive accounts and explanations of English/Hebrew etymological roots or sources. Try it, you might like it...!

(19)
Shraga,
July 7, 2014 10:56 PM

wonderful article

yet I don;t understand what "scapegoat" has to do with anything Hebrew.

Mordechai Shuali,
July 8, 2014 7:55 PM

Scapegoat

The goat thrown off the peak Azazel was the first scapegoat. As it expressed the atonement for our sins, any excuse upon which we blame our sins or those of others is called as scapegoat

Shraga,
July 9, 2014 8:33 PM

Hebrew

But the word "scape goat" is unlike all the other examples -- it is related to a biblical concept, but not to any Hebrew word per se.

(18)
Sholom,
July 7, 2014 7:48 PM

What about "sandal"?

Comes directly from Hebrew (or Aramaic), doesn't it?

(17)
Avi,
July 7, 2014 5:56 PM

Fruit

Same letters as payrot (p and f same letter in Hebrew)

(16)
Jacob,
July 7, 2014 3:48 PM

Seraph

Aside from the word Seraph referring to a type of angel, most likely the English word serpent is also derived from the Hebrew Seraph (s-r-f) as found e.g in Numbers 21:6-8, where the Latin Vulgate translates it as "serpentum"

(15)
Nachum,
July 7, 2014 1:41 PM

Macabre

Macabre comes from "Maccabee," after the gruesome ways in which Hannah's sons were killed.

Here are a few more: Canon, cannon, bible. Look them up.

(14)
Michael Stanley,
July 7, 2014 1:06 PM

alphabet

Aleph bet ( the first two Hebrew letters)= alphabet in English

(13)
Aaron,
July 7, 2014 12:53 PM

A Cool Graphic on this theme

Check it out - very relevant: http://jewishinfographics.com/2013/12/23/hebrew-the-source-of-all-languages/

(12)
Jan Houwert,
July 7, 2014 10:08 AM

A few words...

Very intersting, thank you for sharing this knowledge.I see 'abracadabra' and I find it back in (ancient) Egypt, RA. R= mouth, speak ; A = arm, action. What I find interesting is the translation of Amen “I believe what was said is true”. The French translated it as "ainsi soit-il" (so be it), which, in my eyes, was (probably an error on my part) was the same as Amen.Thank you again.Jan

(11)
david rubin,
July 7, 2014 2:06 AM

Some of these "derivations" are quite wrong.

"Ruthless" comes from the same Germanic root as the verb "rue." It has nothing to do with the biblical Ruth (cf. OED, AHD).

"Kahuna" is Hawaiian. Any similarity to "kohen" is coincidental (cf. OED).

Only the late John Ciardi, but no qualified linguist, advances the theory that "copacetic" comes from "Kol beseder."

Anonymous,
July 7, 2014 2:23 PM

Lashon Ha'kodesh Predates German and Hawaiian

Lashon Ha'kodesh Predates both German and Hawaiian, so these are proofs to the theory not contradictions.

(10)
Anonymous,
July 6, 2014 10:45 PM

Cherubs,(heruv) not angels but guardians

more like griffins, they were not cute babies, that is European goyim painting taken from Roman religion..

Anonymous,
July 7, 2014 2:26 PM

The Talmud and Rashi Disagree

The sages clearly state they were child-like. The Romans can be right sometimes as well.

(9)
Nach Shon,
July 6, 2014 9:36 PM

Yahoo

How did she miss the obvious one Jehu (Yehu) drove wild thru the streets etc. A yahoo in SW border English is that a wild event or person. hell-raiser

(8)
Chaya Rivka,
July 6, 2014 7:53 PM

Kahuna is NOT English

It is a native Hawaiian word and refers to the priest-shaman religious caste of the native Hawaiian tribes. ALL the worlds' languages derive from Hebrew at their root, not just English. We know this because we learn it when we learn about Bavel, the Tower of Babbel (when the world began speaking different, mutually unintelligible languages, or, "babble."

Macabre indeed has a Hebrew root, but not what this article says. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, this is the source: early 15c., originally in reference to a kind of morality show or allegorical representation of death and his victims, from Old French (danse) Macabré "(dance) of Death" (1376), of uncertain origin, probably a translation of Medieval Latin (Chorea) Machabæorum, literally "dance of the Maccabees" (leaders of the Jewish revolt against Syro-Hellenes; see Maccabees). The association with the dance of death seems to be from vivid descriptions of the martyrdom of the Maccabees in the Apocryphal books. The abstracted sense of "gruesome" is first attested 1842 in French, 1889 in English.

Anonymous,
July 6, 2014 8:49 PM

correct.

the Anglizied version is the (now) oyim surname McBee or MacBee,excellent fake Kelts.

(5)
R,
July 6, 2014 3:18 PM

Etymologies

Has anyone here ever heard of the aphorism "Tafasta meruba lo tafasta"? It is all well and good to point out that certain words come directly from Hebrew or that clearly have the same connotation in many languages (the classic example is "sack" for a rough cloth or bag), but it is sheer madness and utter nonsense to invent things that aren't true just to fill in a nice story. Just to scratch the surface, a bit of research will show that at least from the standpoint of philologists, "ruth" and "ruthless" (in the posted article) have no relationship with the Book or Ruth, nor do any of the examples cited in comment 3. This stuff is dangerous. It sounds nice and clever, but when you present as fact something that is clearly false, especially in this trivial a context, it does tremendous damage to credibility regarding some very important things that are true or that we believe are true but others challenge.

Anonymous,
July 6, 2014 9:16 PM

Ruth or RUETHE is lde English for Pity

or compassion. It takes so little research or COMMON sense to realize how many these are nonsense. & Others try to get copacetic from "kopa tzedek" tho only in the South where until recently the only place it was used,

Mordechai,
July 7, 2014 6:36 AM

I agree

There are plenty of genuine words derived from Hebrew without having to resort to Buba Meisas. Pick up a book on Etymology and you will find many words:

Some examples just off the top of my head:

Mail: (post) comes from the Hebrew for coat or cover. "Mail" used to refer to the outside of the postal letter.

Cider: Hebrew word Shikor meaning alcohol.

Sparrow: Originally generic term for bird. Tz-P-R - Tzipur

Gauze (bandage) the bandage used by soldiers while stationed in Gaza.

Chardonnay (wine): Named after a grape wine famous in Eretz Yisrael called Gate of Hashem and brought back to France by Crusader soldiers. (This is disputed)

Carban (mineral) from Hebrew for offering. Korban.

Cannon, Cane: Obviosuly from Hebrew Kanneh meaning tube reed.

Summit: Related to top of end of something Hebrew Tzomet.

There are any others but cannot remember at the moment...

Anonymous,
July 7, 2014 12:10 PM

Not Just Those Listed

"Pick up a book on Etymology and you will find many words." The fact is that all languages come from lashon ha'kodesh. Europeans could not fathom their language cane from the middle-east so they developed a two-tiered / two-root system made up of the European languages and the African / Middle-Eastern languages. It has been noted by experts in the field that many of the words listed as "source unknown" have a clear relation to Lashon Ha'kodesh.

Anonymous,
July 22, 2014 9:54 PM

Sack

Sack is a perfect example where Hebrew borrowed from Indo-European rather than the other way around. This happened in many places because of mainly Greek influence (and later some Latin and even Farsi). There are examples the other way too, though through phoenician which was a Hebrew cognate. Wine is one one of those (yenos in Greek, from yayin).

(4)
Herb Fried,
July 6, 2014 2:41 PM

Is albino from lavan(white) in Hebrew

Is albino from lavan(white) in Hebrew? With the vet and bet interchanged, which is a common substitution, they both mean white and have the same consonants in the same order.

(3)
Mordechai Shuali,
July 6, 2014 12:28 PM

Source One

1) Embryo from the root ב-ר-א (pronounced bara) meaning to create.
2) Base (as in home base) from the word בית (pronounced bayis) meaning house.
3) Dum (as in someone who cannot speak) from the root דום (pronounced dome) meaning silence.
There are many more. But of course. The Torah teaches us that all language came from the one language all mankind spoke before the sin of the Tower of Babel resulted in the mixing up of language resulting in the 70 root languages.
Lashon HaKodesh - the Holy, entirely unique and separate language of the Torah - was the first language. It follows, therefore, that even as languages have evolved, their roots can be traced to this first language.

Ra'anan,
July 6, 2014 5:27 PM

"base"="bayis???" don't think so because...

the "s" ending in "bayis" is just an Ashkenazic corruption of the correct pronunciation of "bayith." Notice from the article this group of words that preserve the correct pronunciation by retaining the "th": ruthless, leviathan, behemoth & shibboleth. Also, we already have the word "basis" as far back as Mesekheth Shabbath "basis ledevar asur" ending with a somekh & not a sov.

Anonymous,
July 7, 2014 1:31 AM

The Root of the Problem

1) Bear in mind that many languages developed after the "s" sound took the place of the theorized "th" sound. 2) Jacob certainly comes from Yaakov (The letter J, in some languages, is pronounced Y (and like the yud is the 10th letter in the language's set of letters) , but has certainly replaced the Y in many cases. Similarly, the letter G replaces the letter H, for example in Russian. So shiboles, shiboleth, siboles are all related. 3) Language experts, HaRav S. R. hirsch relates words which share sounds or related sounds. 4) CHaZa"L refer to letters which are interchangeable.

Anonymous,
July 7, 2014 2:28 AM

See the book "The Word" the kuntres Safah Achas among others, who deal extensively with thus subject. (te'umim meaning twins is certainly related to the the words duo and two).

An earlier post wrote "it is sheer madness and utter nonsense to invent things that aren't true just to fill in a nice story." Migdal Bavel is neither invented nor nonsense. All languages came from lashon ha'kodesh. Rav Miller, for example, explaines that when Rashi tells us to'tafos, meaning a four compartment box, comes from two words meaning 2 (tote and fote) he does not mean that two non-Hebrew were borrowed and placed in Chumash. Rather, he explains, the word to'tafos means a four compartment box in lashon Ha'kodesh and these two languages borrowed the word making twonwords meaning two.

Many chachomim, past and present, have addressed the very point addressed in the above piece, and agree that the premise is not simply nice and clever and certainly not dangerous.

(2)
Rifka,
July 6, 2014 11:59 AM

another one: positive

these agre great! another one is "positive" which comes from the Hebrew "po ze tiv" meaning here or this is good..

(1)
M. Hillson,
July 6, 2014 8:32 AM

Shibboleth

The actual meaning of Shibboleh is "cascade", whether a cascade on a stalk of grain, or a waterfall. In the story of Gilad (a region of Transjordan, not a nation), they tricked the Ephraimite to say "shibboleth" by asking the fellow how he intends to cross the waterfalls of the Jordan River.

I just got married and have an important question: Can we eat rice on Passover? My wife grew up eating it, and I did not. Is this just a matter of family tradition?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

The Torah instructs a Jew not to eat (or even possess) chametz all seven days of Passover (Exodus 13:3). "Chametz" is defined as any of the five grains (wheat, spelt, barley, oats, and rye) that came into contact with water for more than 18 minutes. Chametz is a serious Torah prohibition, and for that reason we take extra protective measures on Passover to prevent any mistakes.

Hence the category of food called "kitniyot" (sometimes referred to generically as "legumes"). This includes rice, corn, soy beans, string beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, mustard, sesame seeds and poppy seeds. Even though kitniyot cannot technically become chametz, Ashkenazi Jews do not eat them on Passover. Why?

Products of kitniyot often appear like chametz products. For example, it can be hard to distinguish between rice flour (kitniyot) and wheat flour (chametz). Also, chametz grains may become inadvertently mixed together with kitniyot. Therefore, to prevent confusion, all kitniyot were prohibited.

In Jewish law, there is one important distinction between chametz and kitniyot. During Passover, it is forbidden to even have chametz in one's possession (hence the custom of "selling chametz"). Whereas it is permitted to own kitniyot during Passover and even to use it - not for eating - but for things like baby powder which contains cornstarch. Similarly, someone who is sick is allowed to take medicine containing kitniyot.

What about derivatives of kitniyot - e.g. corn oil, peanut oil, etc? This is a difference of opinion. Many will use kitniyot-based oils on Passover, while others are strict and only use olive or walnut oil.

Finally, there is one product called "quinoa" (pronounced "ken-wah" or "kin-o-ah") that is permitted on Passover even for Ashkenazim. Although it resembles a grain, it is technically a grass, and was never included in the prohibition against kitniyot. It is prepared like rice and has a very high protein content. (It's excellent in "cholent" stew!) In the United States and elsewhere, mainstream kosher supervision agencies certify it "Kosher for Passover" -- look for the label.

Interestingly, the Sefardi Jewish community does not have a prohibition against kitniyot. This creates the strange situation, for example, where one family could be eating rice on Passover - when their neighbors will not. So am I going to guess here that you are Ashkenazi and your wife is Sefardi. Am I right?

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Moses ben Nachman (1194-1270), known as Nachmanides, and by the acronym of his name, Ramban. Born in Spain, he was a physician by trade, but was best-known for authoring brilliant commentaries on the Bible, Talmud, and philosophy. In 1263, King James of Spain authorized a disputation (religious debate) between Nachmanides and a Jewish convert to Christianity, Pablo Christiani. Nachmanides reluctantly agreed to take part, only after being assured by the king that he would have full freedom of expression. Nachmanides won the debate, which earned the king's respect and a prize of 300 gold coins. But this incensed the Church: Nachmanides was charged with blasphemy and he was forced to flee Spain. So at age 72, Nachmanides moved to Jerusalem. He was struck by the desolation in the Holy City -- there were so few Jews that he could not even find a minyan to pray. Nachmanides immediately set about rebuilding the Jewish community. The Ramban Synagogue stands today in Jerusalem's Old City, a living testimony to his efforts.

It's easy to be intimidated by mean people. See through their mask. Underneath is an insecure and unhappy person. They are alienated from others because they are alienated from themselves.

Have compassion for them. Not pity, not condemning, not fear, but compassion. Feel for their suffering. Identify with their core humanity. You might be able to influence them for the good. You might not. Either way your compassion frees you from their destructiveness. And if you would like to help them change, compassion gives you a chance to succeed.

It is the nature of a person to be influenced by his fellows and comrades (Rambam, Hil. De'os 6:1).

We can never escape the influence of our environment. Our life-style impacts upon us and, as if by osmosis, penetrates our skin and becomes part of us.

Our environment today is thoroughly computerized. Computer intelligence is no longer a science-fiction fantasy, but an everyday occurrence. Some computers can even carry out complete interviews. The computer asks questions, receives answers, interprets these answers, and uses its newly acquired information to ask new questions.

Still, while computers may be able to think, they cannot feel. The uniqueness of human beings is therefore no longer in their intellect, but in their emotions.

We must be extremely careful not to allow ourselves to become human computers that are devoid of feelings. Our culture is in danger of losing this essential aspect of humanity, remaining only with intellect. Because we communicate so much with unfeeling computers, we are in danger of becoming disconnected from our own feelings and oblivious to the feelings of others.

As we check in at our jobs, and the computer on our desk greets us with, "Good morning, Mr. Smith. Today is Wednesday, and here is the agenda for today," let us remember that this machine may indeed be brilliant, but it cannot laugh or cry. It cannot be happy if we succeed, or sad if we fail.

Today I shall...

try to remain a human being in every way - by keeping in touch with my own feelings and being sensitive to the feelings of others.

With stories and insights,
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